「紫皮書」英語六級漢譯英小短文：汽車與牌照

沒有哪個國家比中國對汽車更癡狂了，這里新成為中產階層的人們的夢想就是擁有一輛閃閃發(fā)光的新汽車。但僅僅有汽車對這些渴望超越中產階層的人們是不夠的，牌照號就成為與汽車一樣能夠象征身份和地位的東西。車牌號的發(fā)放通常是隨機的。但在這個每年有10萬人死于交通事故的國家，對于迷信的常乘車的人來說，以4結尾的牌照號被認為是不吉利的象征，因為4的讀音與"死"相同，而帶8的車牌號則預示著你可能會發(fā)財。
No country is more bonkers over cars than China, where achieving the new middle-class dream means owning a shiny new vehicle. But the car is not always enough for those who aspire beyond the middle class. A license plate has become almost as much of a status symbol as the car. License plates are usually issued randomly. But in a country where 100,000 people die annually in traffic accidents, a plate that ends in 4 is considered a very bad omen for a superstitious motorist because 4 has the same pronunciation as death. Yet a plate overflowing with 8's portends you may make a fortune.